Samsung announced in early December that it sold 1 million Galaxy Tabs in its first two months on the market. The 2 million number tells us that sales for the tablet just about doubled in December. The company says its phone sales were driven in large part by its successful high-end Galaxy S line, which sold 10 million units last year. Phone sales in the quarter were up 17 percent from a year ago, and they reached a total of 280 million units sold for 2010, a 23 percent increase.

The strong fourth quarter helped Samsung to surpass many of its previous fiscal records. For 2010, the company saw total revenue of $139 billion, $14 billion in net income $15.5 billion in operating profit ($2.7 billion of which came from the last quarter).

Samsung also shipped 12.72 million flat panel TVs in the fourth quarter, a 10 percent increase from the previous quarter.

The company came out of nowhere last year with its slick Galaxy S phones, which were released in the US across all major cellphone carriers. Now Samsung has to fight to keep its position as the top Android phone manufacturer as we begin to see an onslaught of 4G devices from competitors with powerful dual-core CPUs. Other Android device makers like Motorola and HTC have already unveiled their plans for next-generation smartphones, and Samsung reminded investors that it has a dual-core successor to the Galaxy S on the way in a few months.

We suspect many new devices to appear at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona in a few weeks.

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